Continental TKC80 Fitment

As mentioned in a previous post "Tire Considerations," I made a decision to replace the original equipment Dunlop K750s on my new 2016 Kawasaki KLR650 with Continental Twinduro TKC80 tires. I did quite a little research on this, and didn't run into any issues with fitment. However, I ran into a bit of an issue with the rear  tire rubbing the muffler. The rear size is 130/80-17, same as the OE tire.

Oh yes, I took delivery with the Contis installed so I don't know how much space there was between the muffler and OE tire.

Upon delivery I took the bike straight home (about 10 miles) and went over it with a fine tooth comb. I found the rub, as shown in the photo, fairly quickly.

Very tight fit, indeed.

Some quick and good advice from a forum member was to place some washers in the two muffler bolts to act as spacers.

Here's a look with the washers installed.

And now there's some room to prevent further rubbing.

So, if it comes up again, the Continental Twinduro TKC80 require a minor bit of modification for fitment of the rear on the 2016 Kawasaki KLR 650.